// Author's Note: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews, as usual. They really motivate me! So this chapter kicks off a story arc that will last for about three chapters. And... they're all focused on Sacchun! There will be some small parts that focus on other characters, as usual, which are also important, but hopefully you'll enjoy this three-part arc. Keep in mind that this takes place on the same day as Ch. 35! And of course, sorry for the lateness. Hopefully the length will make up for it though. I'm done school and done exams, so I'll be writing a lot more now! I realise Nami's character is a bit... strong, in this chapter, but she's meant to be that kind of character. Not necessarily one that you'd like, but she has her reasons for being how she is. Anyway, I'll stop rambling, So enjoy this chapter, Sacchun-fans! End Author's Note //

Chapter 36: A Day in the life of Sacchun

Even for the school's most energetic girl, Monday mornings were tiring. Sacchun walked to school, her black hair in two traditional pigtails. They bobbed up and down slowly as she calmly made her way to Flowerbud High. She wasn't sure if Meg had even come home last night - all she knew was that when she went to sleep, she wasn't there, and when she woke up, she still wasn't there. Though normally this would really bother her, she had something else on her mind, something that had to be resolved before she could focus on Meg. Her parents would be coming down to visit. This Friday. This meant many things, but the first thing she had to do was find Joe -- who was, incidentally, running up to her at that very moment.

"SACCHUN!" he exclaimed as he pounced towards her. She ducked and Joe flew over her and down onto the pavement. As if unable to absorb physical damage, Joe got up and grinned. "Hiya."

"Heeey." she smiled back.

Joe put his hands behind his head and continued walking beside her. "Aww, you didn't even get scared."

"That's 'cause you couldn't even scare a kitten!" Sacchun laughed. "Besides, you do this all the time. It's become part of my walking-to-school routine."

"Heheh, yeah."

Sacchun stopped. "So where's Lloyd? He's usually --"

"...right behind you. Usually. Except when you decide to speed off in the middle of a conversation to go jump on Sacchun!" said an out of breath Lloyd, standing right behind them.

Joe shrugged and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yyyyeah. Sorry 'bout that."

Lloyd grumbled. "That's what you always say... Hey, uh, where's Meg?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sacchun shrugged.

"Did you see her before you left?" asked Joe.

The black-haired girl shook her head. "Nope. I didn't see her last night. In fact, I didn't see her at all yesterday. Aw heck, I can't even remember the last time I did see her!"

"Weird." Joe and Lloyd said in unison.

"Yeah..." Sacchun softly said. "She hasn't even been practicing her violin or studying or doing any of the other Meggy things that Meg usually does. It's sad!"

Lloyd sighed. "Maybe we'll see her in class today..."

They continued their walk in conversation about the day, which was to be pretty exciting. In Math, they were getting back a test they had done last week - but that wasn't nearly as exciting as the fact that today would be the first day with their newest substitute, Nami Linette. They had English right after Math, and then last period they had Gym, again with Nami. Joe was excited, because according to him, Nami was 'hot'. Sacchun poked him sharply in the forehead after hearing him say this for the fifth time. Lloyd wasn't sure what to make of their new substitute, and decided he'd make his judgement only after their class. They walked up to the front doors, where said substitute was standing, talking with Alex.

"Hello." Alex greeted, waving at the trio. Nami simply stared at them, her eyebrow twitching at the sight of Sacchun. Alex's warm voice and Nami's cold glare was enough to make Sacchun squeal softly and Joe drool slightly.

"Hiya, sir!" Sacchun said enthusiastically. He grinned and gestured to Nami beside him.

"You remember Nami - er, Ms. Linette, right? From the festival?"

She nodded. "Yup! How could I forget someone like Nami Linette?"

Nami blinked and chose to say nothing.

"Today's going to be your first day with her as a teacher. She's amazing at poetry and writing, you know. Manna didn't just pick her name out of a hat!" Alex said.

"Though, since it's Manna, I wouldn't be surprised if she did just that." Lloyd muttered.

Nami swallowed all the nasty words she wanted to say. "Y-Yes. Today's going to be lots of fun!" she said with fake enthusiasm.

"I can hardly wait!" said Sacchun eagerly. The red-haired teacher's eyebrow twitched yet again. Sacchun was quickly making her way over to Nami's bad side. Alex, being one of the more perceptive members of the staff, quickly said, "Sasha, you all had better get inside. Your first class will be beginning soon."

"Math..." Joe groaned. They opened the doors and walked in, heading for their lockers. A lot of students were hanging out in the lobby before classes. They passed by Ellen, who was chatting away to Rick. Lloyd found it odd that Ellen was completely ignoring him, but not as odd as the next group they passed. Dan and Kai were sitting on the bottom steps of the stairs, with Karen, Popuri, and several other members of their clique. Karen turned around right as Lloyd was staring at her, and the two locked eyes. Knowing she couldn't really avoid him, Karen settled for a timid wave. Lloyd lifted his hand to wave back, but it fell limply to his side a second later. While Karen's back was turned, Dan, behind her, was giving Lloyd the dirtiest look imaginable. He glared threateningly and Lloyd's eyes went wide.

He quickened his pace and Sacchun and Joe followed.

"What was that all about?" Sacchun asked.

Joe shook his head thoughtfully. "I get the feeling Dan doesn't like all the time you've been spending with his girlfriend."

"What... but... Do you think he knows about the Valentines Day thing?" Lloyd stammered. His two friends looked at him.

"What Valentines thing...?" Sacchun looked between the two boys inquisitively.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later, Sacchun." Joe said. Lloyd ruffled his own hair.

"I... But, no one else knows! Besides me, Karen and Gwen."

His friend scratched the back of his head. "Unless Dan, or someone else from Flowerbud, was in the theater and saw you?"

"That's possible... Oh, this is just great! He thinks I'm trying to steal his girlfriend now!"

Sacchun tried to make sense of what they were talking about. "Uh, still confused here..."

"In a nutshell, Lloyd stupidly --"

"Hey!"

" -- I stand by my statement. Lloyd stupidly agreed to go to the movies with both Gwen and Karen and they had a fight and now neither of them are talking to him and Karen did this behind Dan's back and now we better get to writing his eulogy." Joe explained.

Sacchun blinked. "That's, uh -"

"Complicated, I know." Lloyd sighed.

---

Mr. Brassen, though being in a significantly better mood than usual, still seemed to be able to drone on about numbers and variables and other things the students didn't really want to hear about. To their surprise, Meg was present at her desk, even though she had not been to Math class for a while. She mumbled something about not feeling well to Mr. Brassen, and from the look on his face, he did not believe her, but didn't pursue the topic. So Meg was there with her head on the desk, breathing in and out slowly. She was asleep.

"Meeeeg." Sacchun hissed from behind her. "Wakey, wakey!" She glanced at Joe, who crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at her while Mr. Brassen was writing on the board.

"Unh..." she grunted. Everyone turned around and stared at her, and Joe looked away innocently.

Mr. Brassen went back to his desk. "Anyway, I corrected your tests from last week and... not many of you did well, I'm sorry to say." he got up again with a pile of papers in his hand and began passing them out.

"Good work, Mary! As usual, you and Rick have the highest scores." he said happily, passing out their respective tests. The two students grinned and high-fived each other. Mr. Brassen walked over to Sacchun's desk and she innocently whistled the Super Mario Bros. tune.

"Sacchun..." he said slowly, flipping through his papers.

"I know I did badly, so--"

"Very good! I was pleasantly surprised while correcting your test. I'm glad to see you've been paying attention in class!" Mr. Brassen said pleasantly, giving her her test with a neat, circled 92 on it. Sacchun stared at the paper for a second, her eyes moving from her mark to the top of her paper. It was her name there, not someone else's.

"Lloyd," Mr. Brassen continued going around the class. "Just barely made it. Try harder next time, okay?" he said, giving Lloyd his test.

"Aw... 65." Lloyd said, sounding disappointed but not entirely surprised. Math was not one of his strengths.

Mr. Brassen moved to Joe's desk right after and flipped through his papers, finally finding his test. "And Mr. Daggett... Another fail. I'd suggest getting a tutor or some extra help if you expect to pass this year's math exam." he said sternly, giving Joe his test. He got a 57.

"Aw, sir! I was so close! Couldn't you have given me a little boost?" Joe pleaded.

"No." he shook his head. "Though I can give you some extra help outside of class, if you want it."

Joe shoved the test into his binder and continued to grumble. Meg's desk was next. Mr. Brassen found her paper and approached her, looking very disappointed.

"Meghan, I have to say, I did not expect this from you at all." he said, shaking his head while looking over her test. Meg continued to snooze on her desk.

"Meghan...? Meg. Meg!!" he began shaking her arm. She growled loudly and Mr. Brassen withdrew his hand. "Meg...? Wake up!"

"Meg!!" Kurt exclaimed from the desk in front of her. "Wake up!"

As if by the sound of Kurt's voice alone, Meg lifted her head and tiredly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Mr. Brassen's upset face. Then the paper in his hand. Then the big, red, 46 circled on it. She blinked a few times until she fully understood the situation. Her eyes were bloodshot. Everyone else's eyes were on her.

"Huh...? I... what..?" she stammered. She took the test from him and stared down at it, her long blonde bangs hiding her face from view. Mr. Brassen continued to hand out the tests, so the rest of the class turned away from Meg. When he finished, he returned to his desk and was about to pick out another problem for them to do, when the bell rang.

"Phew...!" Joe sighed happily. "No more math for the day!!"

"Yeah but, don't forget, stupid, we still have the rest of the day's classes to go through!" Sacchun reminded him, playfully hitting him on the head. Meg was getting up very slowly, and the trio decided it would be best to confront her now.

"Meg...?" Sacchun said first, approaching her desk. Meg looked up, brushing her hair out of her face and looking at her friend.

"Hey." she said simply. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"You look..." Joe searched for a word that might sound complimenting, but nothing came to him. "...tired."

"Yeah..." she said. "...That's why I fell asleep."

"So..." Lloyd said, trying to make conversation. After such a long time, it felt odd having the four of them together again. "How'd you do on that test?" He had a feeling this was the wrong thing to ask.

"Oh... Oh, not that bad." Meg said, she flipped her paper with a trembling hand and revealed her mark to them.

"Whoa... Meg failing a test? Never saw that coming!" Joe said tactlessly. Sacchun stared and bit her lower lip and Lloyd wasn't sure what to say.

"That's uh... that's new." he said.

"Well, yeah, but I mean, it's not that bad."

Rick seemed to think otherwise, as he was standing right behind Lloyd without them even knowing. "A Forty-six?! Wow! Meghan Winslow, top of the class, getting a forty-six?!"

Meg glared at him.

"It is kinda surprising." Joe admitted. Meg turned on him.

"What do you mean?! You fail all the time!"

Sacchun nodded. "Yeah, but it's expected of Joe! We're not tryin' to put you down or anything, Meg, it's just a bit of a shock." she said.

Meg growled and took the paper and threw it into the recycling bin. "Whatever. Just because you guys have this false image of me doesn't mean I have to live up to it."

"Meg! Wait!" Sacchun grabbed her shoulder. "What's wrong...? I barely see you anymore..." she had the air of a lost puppy. Sacchun's pleading eyes stared into Meg's cold eyes for a moment. It was as if time had stopped temporarily all around them while they gazed into each others' eyes - at some point the two girls had been best friends, and now, Meg seemed cold and distant. With a rush, time suddenly continued ticking away and Meg broke away from Sacchun's grip and walked out the door.

---

Sacchun walked ahead of Joe and Lloyd to her locker. She didn't give them the chance to speak to her after their brush with Meg. She was so worried about her.

I can't believe I've let my best friend slip like this... Time seems to go by so quickly and I just let things get screwed up! Jeez, I'm so STUPID! she thought as she approached her locker. She banged her head on it a few times, earning her a few odd stares from fellow classmates walking by. After she eventually got her locker open, she checked her schedule that was pinned up by two flower magnets. She had english next - her first class with Ms. Linette.

Oh, this oughta be fuuun. she thought mischievously. Her thoughts wandered off to Joe. And maybe... maybe I'll ask him then. I only have until Friday... and with that thought she felt her throat constrict slightly. This Friday... They're coming this Friday. She thought, as she walked off to her English class. I don't have much time, which means Joe HAS to accept. He's the only one of my close friends who'd agree to do this! Meg's a mess, Lloyd's got his own complications to deal with, and Joe... I'm not sure why, but I'd feel more comfortable if it was him. I just hope he says yes.

She paused and stared out the window, when suddenly an image of Joe holding Katie appeared in her head. She couldn't shake this image, and for some reason it seemed to bother her. But WHY does it bother me...? I don't even like him! There's no way... I could like that idiot! I mean, yeah, he's sweet and goofy and funny and whatever, but I can't LIKE him! I mean, he's such a goof...Ooooh, now I'm going to be bothered by this thought all the time. Sacchun shook her head and continued walking, deciding to focus her thoughts instead on a new Ninja video game coming out.

I'm sure Joe would love that new weapon they implemented, it'd make fighting way easier. I'll have to fight him in it one day! I'd kick his butt, hehe!. Her happy thoughts were interrupted by the door to her English class. The bell rang just as she stepped in, and she was thankful that she'd be spared from another lecture and detention from Manna - then she remembered that Manna was not here, but was in some other town nursing a new grandchild. And even though she was expecting it, seeing Nami's fiery red hair was a bit of a shock. Sacchun stuck out her tongue childishly at the back of Nami's head, who was busy writing on the board. She turned around and revealed small glasses that she was wearing. She looked sternly at Sacchun.

"Take your seat." she said monotonously. Sacchun walked over to her normal seat in between Lloyd and Joe. She waved to them both and expected them to ask why she had left before them without a word, but they said nothing. The class was whispering excitedly and wondering about how their first class with the famous celebrity would be. Sacchun was about to turn to Joe and make her proposition, when Nami stood up. "Uh, no." she said suddenly.

She walked around the desks and stopped at Rick. "State your name."

"Rick Ellenore, Miss." he said with a polite smile. She shook her head.

"What are you doing in the front row?" she asked, gesturing to said row.

Rick blinked. "It is my seat, miss."

"Oh. No, no, no. I don't think so. You're all sitting in alphabetical order like you should be."

Sacchun rolled her eyes and said, "We always sit like this."

"I don't think so." Nami shook her head again, a stern look of disapproval on her face. "And don't call out. Hands up, always. That's not a rule that should need to be enforced at your age. I'm not here to teach a kindergarden class, I'm here to each a Grade 10 English class."

The class exchanged looks of obvious dislike. It was obvious this woman had no experience teaching before and was definitely not accustomed to kids.

"Rearrange yourselves. Now. In alphabetical order." she ordered, checking her watch. "Don't take a sceond over five minutes."

The class got up and lazily sat in alphabetical order. Lloyd and Joe were still fairly close to each other, but Sacchun was thrust all the way into the back. To Lloyd's discomfort, he was placed beside Karen and seperated from Gwen.

"Took you six minutes." Nami checked her watch again.

'She actually TIMED us?!' Joe mouthed to Lloyd. Lloyd looked back at him incredulously.

"Anyway, let's begin. I see you're all in the middle of reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee. Interestingly enough, you're barely even halfway through the book. Most students should be done by now. Is there anyone in this class who's finished the book ahead of time?" Nami asked, looking around. Mary's hand was raised timidly.

"One student. Impressive." Nami said dryly. Sacchun rolled her eyes again, but it went unnoticed by Nami.

Rick spoke up. "Um, Ms. Linette, I am almost done --"

"When you have a job, you aren't payed until you're completely done. Being almost done means nothing. Now, take out your books and begin reading from where you left off. You've wasted enough time already." she turned and walked back to her desk. Sacchun's hand was in the air, but Nami payed no attention. She took off her glasses, put them back in their case, and began reading over what looked to be old essays written by the students of this class. When Nami looked up to make sure the class was reading, she finally noticed Sacchun's hand.

"What is it?"

"We don't normally read silently, we usually read out loud or listen to the tape-thingie."

"What?"

"We don't normally read silently, we usually read out loud or listen to the tape-thingie!!" Sacchun repeated loudly. Nami got up again, her eyebrow twitching.

"First of all. You will begin your sentences with 'Ms. Linette' when addressing me. Second of all, a 'tape-thingie' is called a cassette player. Goddess, if you can't speak the language properly..." she trailed off and shook her head. "And third of all, get use to the fact that when you have a new teacher, things are bound to be different, and you have to adapt. Not me. Okay? So you will read silently and individually and not complain about it. Not while I'm teaching you, got it?" she said confidently and sharply. Clearly her skill to get the message across sharply and effectively was one from her past job.

"I was just sayin'." Sacchun shrugged and stared at her incredulously. "Chill out, miss."

"Chill out? You want me to chill out?"

"Yeah, 'cause you're kinda spazzing at me for nothing." Sacchun said boldly. It was clear that the entire class was watching and not a single student was focusing on their novels.

Joe spoke up. "All she did was tell you what we normally do! Why'd you have to get mad at a little thing like that?"

"Because you kids can't seem to grasp simple concepts! Raise your hand! Read silently! Do not question your teacher! Are these instructions so hard to follow?!" she demanded, turning on Joe.

Joe opened his mouth but no words came out for a few seconds and he closed his mouth.

"Sacchun's right." came Karen's voice. She sat back in her chair lazily, twirling a pencil, as if she was bored. "You need to chill out."

Nami's cold eyes shifted to Karen's seat now. "Chill out. Right. If the whole world just chilled out that'd make everything better, right? Well obviously I can't CHILL OUT when I have a group of students that are incapable of following simple instructions!"

"Hehehe." Sacchun giggled.

"What are you giggling about back there?"

"Oh, Sorry miss, It's just really amusing to see a teacher freak out like this on her very first day! You've probably broken a record or somethin', we should put this in the yearbook." she said with a broad smile. Several students snickered and Joe laughed openly. Even Mary had to hide her face behind her book to hide her laughter.

Nami's eyebrow twitched again. I told myself I wouldn't get mad, and here I am... Urgh, I HATE, HATE, HATE stupid kids!.

"Can everyone, please, get back to their silent reading?!" she asked with an irritated sigh. Sacchun gave her fake applause. "Ooh, she knows the word 'please'! The english teacher discovered a new word to add to her vocabulary! Everyone give her a round of applause!"

"One more word out of you and you're going straight. to. the. principal." Nami emphasized each word to make her point very clear.

"Why?" Sacchun asked. "Can't handle me yourself?" she asked with a cocky smile. Sacchun was definitely overdoing it.

"You children lack discipline."

"I hate to correct you, teacher, but we ain't children, we're teens." Karen corrected her.

"I hate to correct you, child, but 'ain't' is not a word." Nami seethed. Karen rolled her eyes in response. Lloyd stared at her and felt something inside of him - something he did not expect. Something about her rebellious attitude appealed to Lloyd. He shook the thought out of his head almost immediately, however.

"Honestly," Nami sighed irritably. "You should see this a privilege to have a teacher who is willing to help you improve your english. English is more important than any of you realise, and up till now you've all had wishy-washy teachers who are far too easy on you! You may not realise it now, but you will be grateful to have a teacher like me in the future."

"A teacher like you? You mean, one that doesn't even bother to learn her students' names?" Sacchun asked. "Oh, or were you talking about someone else? Because I don't see any great teachers in this room."

Nami's face went chalk-white and it was clear that Sacchun had gone too far.

"...Except Mary." Sacchun added. "She tutored me once, and I did so good on this test..."

"WELL! YOU DID SO WELL! WHICH I DOUBT ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEEM TO GRASP THE MOST SIMPLE RULES OF YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE! SEE ME AFTER SCHOOL, FOR YOU HAVE A DETENTION. EVERY. DAY. OF. THIS. WEEK." Nami finally raised her voice. The class stared, not daring to say a word, and even the air was still as Nami's furious words hung over their heads. Sacchun really wanted to retort - she opened her mouth to, but the bell's melodious sound rang through the school.

"Uh..." Sacchun got up uncertainly. Nami quickly went to her desk, shoved everything angrily into her suitcase and flew through the door before a single student managed to leave. Sacchun met Joe and Lloyd by their desks and they both exchanged looks of amusement.

"Overkill?" Sacchun asked, biting her bottom lip.

"Definitely." Joe said, but Sacchun was happy to see that he was grinning broadly.

---

After their next class, which was Spanish, they all met at the Lunch dome for lunch. Sacchun sat with Dia and Kurt, who usually brought home-made lunches, while Joe and Lloyd went through the line to get their food. Meg wasn't sitting with them at their usual table under the tree, and she was nowhere to be seen. Sacchun was eating a salad she made and Dia and Kurt were talking about something that Sacchun wasn't quite paying attention to. She decided that she had to ask Joe this period. The day was almost over, and she wasn't going to put it off any longer.

"Sacchun?" Dia asked. Sacchun looked up from her salad, a leaf of lettuce sticking out of her mouth. Kurt snickered and Sacchun quickly ate it and laughed.

"Yes?"

"Today's English class was... interesting." Dia said, sounding amused.

Kurt agreed. "For some reason, whatever class Sacchun's in is always... interesting."

Sacchun grinned. "Don't tell me you two like that ... that cow?! No, wait, she's not fat enough to be a cow..."

"Well nah," Kurt said, in between bites. "I'm glad she takes english seriously and all, but she's a bit too serious."

"She really hates kids." Dia stated.

"Thankyou, Dia, I couldn't tell." Sacchun teased.

"I wonder if she'll actually loosen up..." Kurt pondered.

"If who will loosen up?" Joe asked as he and Lloyd brought their red trays over to the table.

"Ms. Linette." Dia answered as Kurt took a sip from his juice box.

"Ah... You owe me five dollars." Joe nudged Lloyd.

He rummaged for the money in his pocket. "Yeah, yeah."

Sacchun looked at them quizically and in response, Joe said, "We made a bet that you'd all be talking about today's english class and I won."

Sacchun then turned to Lloyd, looking equally quizzical.

"...What?"

"Why would you accept a bet like that? Obviously we'd be talking about it, stupid!" she laughed. Lloyd grinned and passed Joe the five dollars.

Sacchun continued eating her salad and then looked up when she heard the sound of footsteps. "Uh oh... Incoming skank at one o' clock ..." she muttered.

"What...?" Joe asked. "OOF!" he exclaimed as Katie glomped him, knocking his fork out of his hand and landing in the place that Sacchun's hand at been a moment before she moved it.

"Jooooooe!" she squealed. "Do you have any plans for today, afterschool?" she asked him, holding onto his arm and squeezing it.

Joe looked at Sacchun in front of him. "No... Well, kinda."

Sacchun stared at him. 'Why are you staring at ME?' she mouthed at him. Joe shook his head.

"Kinda? Aww, c'mon!! Stay with me afterschool. I have to lead the cheerleader tryouts and I really want you to be there with me so I won't die of boredom!" she pleaded.

Joe shifted uncomfortably. "Um, don't you have Nina for that?"

"Yyyyeaaah, but Nina's not my boyfriend!" Katie said, rolling her eyes.

Joe shook his head. "Sorry, Katie." he said.

"Jeez, you suck!" she retorted and punched him playfully.

"Do I really?" he asked her. She stared into his eyes.

"...Naw!" she said before embracing him affectionately.

Sacchun got up to throw out her napkin and juice box. "Ewww! Get a room, you two." she teased.

"Well, Joe? Should we take her advice?" she asked him suggestively.

"Nah, I'm fine right here." Joe grinned, and the two began making out.

Everyone around them at the table scooted over slightly and Sacchun stuck out her tongue at them and walked towards the Lunch Dome's exit. She turned for a minute and paused, staring at Joe and Katie sloppily making out. Feeling a bit disappointed, she turned and left the dome.

---

Their last class for the day was Gym. Normally this would be good news for them, since Gym was always a fun and leisurely way to end the day, but most people who were in Nami's english class this morning had told most of the other students how much of a witch she was, and thus they weren't looking forward to it all that much. Sacchun was almost looking forward to it, seeing as it was a great way to blow off some steam, but she knew she couldn't do much else without getting suspended.

There was a note on the door of the boy's gym that said that since Zack was absent today, it would be another co-ed class in the girl's gym. All the boys suddenly felt a lot gloomier knowing that they'd have to spend gym class under the wrath of Ms. Linette. Once they arrived at the Gym class, all the girls were already sitting on the floor in silence. Nami looked like she was in the middle of explaining something. She was wearing a white shirt and black sweatpants, complete with a whistle around her neck, which looked very odd on the ex-news reporter. Her cold glare was still in place, however, as she turned and glared at the boys now entering.

"It took you this long to read a note? Please don't tell me you actually have trouble with reading too."

"We're not even late!" Joe argued. As if to prove his point, the bell rung right as he finished his sentence. "See?!"

"Well, you are now. Get in, sit down, and ..." she paused. Almost everyone knew she wanted to finish her sentence with 'shut up'. She settled for a tamer version, however. "...be quiet."

The boys sat down uncertainly and Joe jokingly asked if they'd have to sit on the floor in alphabetical order also. Nami didn't quite catch that. Once they were all sitting, she began by explaining that she was not a very physical person and that she personally found Gym to be quite a waste of time, but that she was going to do her best to make sure everyone succeeded in it. Their first activity with Ms. Linette was going to be dodgeball.

"Dodgeball? Are we in grade six again?" Kai asked, an eyebrow cocked.

"You may as well be, since you cannot seem to raise your hand. Or is that some sort of handicap that everyone at this school posesses?"

Everyone exchanged looks that meant only one thing - everyone was in agreement that Nami Linette, was, in fact, a big jerk.

"But it's so nice out!" Popuri protested. "Can't we, like, go outside? I don't wanna be stuck inside..."

"Maybe another day, but I refuse to let you all run wild outside just yet." Nami said sternly.

'Jeez, what are we, animals?!' Karen mouthed to Popuri.

She went around and gave everyone a number - all the even numbers went on one side and the odd numbers went on the other. They split up into their teams and readied for the game. Sacchun was happy to see that she had Joe and Lloyd on her team.

"Alright, time for some ninja dodgeball!" Joe said excitedly. "Not even Nami Linette can ruin a good game of dodgeball!"

"Don't tell her that, I'm sure she'll see it as a challenge." Lloyd grinned.

"Still think she's hot, Joe?" Sacchun asked. Joe rubbed his head sheepishly and laughed.

"Not a chance." he said, and Sacchun's grin seemed to get broader. Lloyd saw that Karen was also on their team, and was seperated from most of her clique-members, including Popuri, Dan, and Kai, who were all on the other side. She walked around aimlessly in the back of the group until the game started.

"Begin!" Nami exclaimed, as she shot six dodgeballs into the court. Immediately the balls were being thrown back and forth - the stronger players were towards the front and the weaker players were thrust into the back. Sacchun and Joe were front-line soldiers in this case, as they were whipping the balls at the other team while exclaiming ridiculously. Nami took them to the side and lectured them about how yelling random words was not going to improve their performance and would simply give everyone, including herself, a headache. When they rejoined the game, they didn't seem to take in one bit of her advice.

Over on the other side, Dan was one of the stronger players. He shot the ball back and forth and often caught it, making him a valuable player. Some of the girls were checking him out, and he enjoyed all the attention he was getting. One girl in particular was Katie.

She hid behind him to avoid being hit by the balls. Dan lunged backwards to catch a particular ball that Joe had thrown at him and he almost hit Katie in doing so.

"Ah, you better be careful, chicka, or you might get hurt." he said with a wink.

Katie looked at him with a grin. "You wouldn't let that happen, would ya?" she said, openly flirting with him. Dan gave her a seductive grin and shielded her from the next ball that was coming straight at her. Katie giggled and continued to follow Dan around - Joe did not seem to notice at all.

Meanwhile, Lloyd was left with nothing to do. With most of the strong players at the front and there being only six balls, he didn't often get a chance to catch or throw any of the balls. Karen was in more or less the same position. It's not that they were one of the 'weak' players, they just didn't get much of a chance to do anything with people like Joe and Sacchun going crazy at the front. They walked around, often catching each others' eye, then turning away. Karen eventually waved to him, and he waved back, which he regretted a moment later as Karen began walking towards him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dodgeball flying towards her, and instinctively lunged in front of her and pushed her out of the way to keep her from being hit.

"What the--?!" she exclaimed as he pushed her out of the way, then as she saw the white ball bounce off his shoulder, she realised why he did that. "...Oh."

Lloyd looked up at her. "Sorry about that." he said. Karen nodded and looked at the other side of the Gym. Dan was giving Kai a triumphant high-five, which made Karen glare. She offered her hand and Lloyd took it as she helped him up.

"It's okay! Um... Thanks." she said, rubbing the back of her head.

Lloyd stared at her. He felt his heart beating quickly, but tried to convince himself it was simply the adrenaline rush and nothing else. You like GWEN, remember? Not Karen!

"Uh... yeah. I guess I'm ... out." he stated, and began walking over to the bench on the side. Karen turned and glared at Dan, who was winking at her.

"What a pig..."

---

With the day over, everyone was happy. Mondays were usually the longest day of the week, and it was finally over. Not for Sacchun, however - she still had to deal with Nami's detention. She decided to stick around in the gym and wait for Nami, since she didn't really have anything better to do. The teacher in quesion, however, was busy lecturing Dan and Kai about showboating. From the looks of it, they weren't taking in a word of what she was barking at them. Sacchun looked around and saw that they weren't the only ones left in the gym. Katie and Nina were still hanging around, chatting. Sacchun decided to join them.

"Hey there, Sacchun!" Katie greeted enthusiasticlaly. Sacchun winced slightly.

"Hiiiiii, Katie. and Nina. Who is not your boyfriend." Sacchun laughed. Katie laughed, remembering that Sacchun was there at lunch. "Why're you still here?" she asked.

"Detention with the witch." Sacchun gestured to Nami in back of them.

Nina laughed. "She's really made quite a reputation in her short time here!"

"Ugh, today's been terrible! I can't believe we have to live with this hag till June! So what are you guys up to, then?" Sacchun asked.

Katie grinned at her. "We're holding the cheerleader tryouts now. They're going to be out in the field, you should really try out."

"Ahahah! I'm not... really.. a cheerleader type person." Sacchun told them, waving her hands frantically.

"Aw, you'd be a great addition." Nina said sweetly. Sacchun just laughed. Nami walked over.

"Did I hear something about cheerleader tryouts?" she asked the three girls. Katie nodded, her breadstick-roll orange hair bobbing.

"Yes, ma'am. We have them every year at around this time. Two of our main cheerleaders last year graduated and another left the squad, so we need to find replacements." she explained. Nami's eyebrow twitched.

"Are you... capable of doing this on your own?"

Nina and Katie glanced at one another. "... I don't see why we wouldn't be." Nina said slowly.

"Children think they can do an adult's job, but that's not always the case." Nami told her. "I think I'll supervise these ... tryouts."

"That's really not necessarily." Katie said, almost too quickly. "We can handle it, Ms. Linette, really."

"Yeah, trust them, they're the cheerleaders here, ya know." Sacchun added in.

"Stay out of this." Nami said coldly. Sacchun hummed contently to herself.

"Still, I'll supervise them. Is this okay with you two?"

The two girls looked at one another uncertainly.

"I see. Then let's go out to the field." Nami nodded briskly. "Sacchun, come, you'll be staying with me, since you do have a detention." She said and steered the three girls outside.

Out in the sun, Sacchun felt her mood lift slightly. Good weather always made her feel free and reminded her that summer would be here soon. On the way down to the field, Katie and Nina tried to persuade Sacchun to become a cheerleader.

"C'mon! You can wave around like... pompoms and stuff! Those are fun!" Nina said enthusiastically, trying to convince her.

"And you always get to wear stylish skirts to the games!" Katie added.

"Iiiiiiiii'm not a skirt person." Sacchun laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, Katie, but you're just going to have to find someone else. Besides, I'd probably end up goofin' up and toppling everyone down all dominoes-style, y'know? I don't see that going so well." she laughed.

Nami was walking behind the three girls, and her eyebrow twitched at almost every word that came out of Sacchun's mouth. How does Alex do it?! How does he deal with these ridiculous children everyday! I'm not going to make it through to the end of this year, I'm going to kill myself!

"What about... um... "

"Oh, there's always Meg." Katie remarked. "Though I haven't seen her around much."

"No! Word's going around that she's kinda... y'know, loony." Nina said in a hushed voice. Nami seemed to be eavesdropping on their conversation. "Meghan?" she asked. "Meghan Winslow? She was on the attendance list in today's Gym class, yet she was not here."

"Do you mind?" Sacchun turned around and looked at her. "We're trying to have a conversation here."

Nami's face went red with both embarassment at having nothing to say, and with anger.

"Meg did look awfully cute in that cheerleader uniform I lent her for Hallowe'en." Katie remarked.

"I don't know if Meg's really... in the best shape to be a cheerleader. Isn't there someone else you can recruit?" Sacchun asked.

"Well, there's always you." Nina said hopefully.

"...Sorry, but no."

They made it to the field and Nami and Sacchun were left to sit on the bench. Nami instructed her not to leave her sight, but besides that, the two refused to speak to each other. Sacchun contented herself by thinking of different ways to get her fired. She felt sad that english class was never going to be the same - no more drawing all over the boards or listening to Manna's long, boring stories or shooting notes to one another. That's when her mind was drawn to Joe.

Joe!! Crap! I forgot to ask him! Again! I'm so, so, so STUPID! Argh! Sacchun mentally slapped herself. This is NOT good! My parents are coming at the end of this week, and we still need time to ... to rehearse! Dammit, if only Joe was here right now...

And as if, miraculously, the Harvest Goddess was listening to her prayers, Sacchun spotted a certain blue-with-white-stars bandana walking towards the field. "JOE!" she got up and yelled, causing Nami's eyes to snap to Joe, who was walking towards the stands.

"Sacchun!" he called as he quickened his pace.

"Mr. Daggett," Nami started.

" Wow, she knows your name!" Sacchun whispered loudly. Nami chose to ignore her.

"What are you doing here, exactly?"

"I came to keep Sacchun company." Joe shrugged. Sacchun felt like jumping down and hugging him. Katie had stopped paying attention to the girl in front of them and her eyes were locked on Joe.

THIS was what he had to do after school?!

"And how did you know we'd be out in the fields?" Nami asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Joe replied, "I asked Dan and Kai, they said you headed out this way, so I came, and here you are."

"Anyway," Nami's eyebrow twitched. "You can't just keep her company."

"Then give me detention too. I called out in class today as well, so I don't see why not." Joe shrugged.

"...You, you're really asking me to give you a detention? That's not very ... smart. But fine, do what you want." she said irritably. Joe nearly jumped into the place next to Sacchun, who gave him a hug.

"Why are you here?" she whispered.
"I decided to keep you company... I wasn't going to leave you alone with her! Jeez, that'd be like leaving a poor defenseless kitten in a cage with a lion!"

"HEY! I'm not that defenseless!" she punched him playfully.

"Ow! Okay, okay, you're right." he chuckled. The two of them had fun whispering behind Nami the whole time without her noticing. After about an hour, Katie and Nina were talking with some other girls who had done a good job, and Nami was getting ready to head back.

"I'm leaving. Have a..." Nami winced. "Have a good day, you two. Both of you are to meet me afterschool tomorrow to continue your detention."

"Oh, but wait, miss! I can't have a detention on Friday, I have to go to the airport."

Nami's eyebrow twitched. "The airport?"

"Yeah, yeah. My parents are flying in to visit and --"

Nami did not let her finish explaining. "Whatever, Then on Thursday, you're staying for two hours, got it? No less." Now get out of my sight! she thought fiercely. She was tired, and not in the mood to argue, so she left Joe and Sacchun alone in the sports field.

They began walking back to school, the spring breeze all around them.

"Aaah, it feels so good to be able to go outside without ugly boots and a huge jacket! I feel so free and nimble and..." Sacchun let out a relaxed sigh. Joe, however, approached her with a confused look.

"I didn't know your parents were coming this Friday..."

Sacchun looked into his eyes and inhaled deeply. She figured she may as well ask him now.

"Right, about that..." she paused, as the breeze whipped her hair into her face. She brushed it aside and continued. "... I need to ask you for a favor..."